The serum levels of intact parathyroid hormone and cholecalciferol metabolites have been measured in patients with hip fracture above 70 years of age admitted to hospital from home-living conditions and compared with serum levels in age- and sex-matched home-living control subjects. It was found that patients with hip fracture had significantly lower levels of calcidiol (29.7 +/- 15.9 vs 46.0 +/- 27.8 nmol/l) and calcitriol (63.6 +/- 25.0 vs 91.1 +/- 39.5 pmol/l) with no difference in serum levels of intact parathyroid hormone (4.7 +/- 2.1 vs 5.3 +/- 3.3 pmol/l). The data suggest that secondary hyperparathyroidism is not an important risk factor in our population of patients with hip fracture.